Top 10 Yahoo Pickups

Tom Collins

2021-02-22

Even though we're about six weeks into the season, there are still plenty of good options on the waiver wire that can help your squad contend for your fantasy hockey championship.

There are always players just waiting to be plucked. It's just a matter of going through the waiver wire to find those players.

Ideally, what you're looking for are players either on hot streaks or those who are in a good position to go on a hot streak, either because they are finally getting power-play time or find themselves in a top-six role.

By the way, this is not the season to sort Yahoo players by the last seven, 14 or 30 days. With some teams having so many games postponed, you're going to get skewed results.

Below are 11 players (two are tied as they are linemates) who were owned in fewer than one-third (33 per cent) of Yahoo leagues going into Sunday's action.

10. Tyler Bertuzzi, owned in 27 percent of Yahoo leagues

I'm not going to lie, I was surprised Bertuzzi wasn't already rostered on more fantasy squads. Sure, he's injured and hasn't even resumed skating, but that's what the IR and IR+ spots are for. Bertuzzi had five goals and seven points in nine games before suffering his upper-body injury. He also had 20 shots, 13 hits, three power-play goals and four power-play points. Even if he's not back for a couple of weeks, it would be smart to pick him up, stash him on IR and benefit once he does return as he's a shoo-in to get back on the top line.

9. Pekka Rinne, 21 percent

With each passing game, I become more convinced that Yaroslav Askarov will be playing for the Predators in two or three seasons. Since Juuse Saros started in the NHL in 2016-17, his goals against average, save percentage and quality starts percentage have worsened almost every season. Even this year, when it looked like Saros had a lock on the top job, he's faltered. He has allowed at least three goals in five of his 10 games and at least five goals three times. Rinne's numbers aren't the greatest, but they significantly better than Saros. If Rinne continues to outplay Saros, expect Rinne to steal some games.

8. Calvin Petersen, 21 percent

Originally, I figured it might take about half a season until Petersen began splitting starts with Jonathan Quick. Instead, it took a couple of weeks. Each netminder has started eight games and Petersen has been much better of the two.

Petersen: 3-4-1 record, 2.43 GAA, 0.926 SV %, five quality starts, zero really bad starts

Quick: 4-2-2 record, 3.19 GAA, 0.889 SV %, four quality starts, two really bad starts

Quick has been excellent in his last two games, but he's been outplayed by Petersen for most of the season.

7. Alex Iafallo, 8 percent

Iafallo is in the middle of a hot streak that should be putting him on the radar for many fantasy hockey general managers, but he's still unowned in 92 per cent of Yahoo leagues. He's on the top line with Anze Kopitar, he's averaging a career high 2.6 shots per game, and he's on the top power-play unit, even though he's never been much of a power-play producer. Iafallo doesn't contribute in as many peripherals (PIM, hits and blocked shots) as others on this list, but he's still worthy of a pickup.

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6. Jesse Puljujarvi, 27 percent

The Oilers forward started the season with zero goals and two assists in his first 11 games. Then a switch flipped and he now has five goals, six points, 17 shots and 15 hits in his last eight games. It helps that he's playing mostly on the top line (his two most frequent linemates this season have been Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins), but this is the kind of usage we wanted for Puljujarvi a couple of years back. It'd be nice if the team game him some power-play time over Alex Chiasson or James Neal, but baby steps. 

5. Rasmus Andersson, 29 percent

It's a little crazy that Andersson is available on the waiver wire in more than 70 per cent of Yahoo leagues. He pretty much checks all the boxes you would be looking for when rostering a defenseman. He's getting plenty of ice time at over 21 minutes a night. Andersson is on the top power-play unit and has four power-play points. He's averaging almost two shots per game and has only one game without a shot this year. His 13 hits and 27 blocked shots are decent enough. And with 10 points in 18 games, that's an 82-game pace of 46 points. What else you would be looking for in a waiver wire pick?

4. Pavel Buchnevich, 20 percent

For years, fantasy hockey fans have been screaming at the Rangers coaches to give Buchnevich more ice time. That's finally happening this season, and Buchnevich is one of the lone bright spots on the Rangers. He's averaging slightly less than 20 minutes per night, which is about three minutes more per game compared to a year ago.  His 12 points and 40 shots are second on the Rangers only to Artemi Panarin. Buchnevich is mostly on the second line with Mika Zibanejad, who is in a major slump. Once the latter gets going, it should cause Buchnevich's production to skyrocket as well.

3. Carter Verhaeghe, 33 percent/Anthony Duclair, 14 percent

At the start of the season, I figured Anthony Duclair would be the Florida Panther that would surprise the most. After all, Duclair seemed more assured of a top-six role and had some recent success in the NHL. Verhaeghe was a 24-year-old rookie last year who seemed destined for a bottom-six role. However, the Panthers stuck Duclair and Verhaeghe on a line with Aleksander Barkov and the results have been tremendous for both of them. In 16 games, Verhaeghe has 13 points, 15 PIM, 34 shots and 15 hits to go along with a plus-seven. In 15 games for Duclair, he has 10 points, 41 shots, 11 hits and one power-play point. Both are top-six forwards on a team ranked top-five in goals-per-game.

2. Joel Eriksson Ek, 33 percent

How good has Eriksson Ek been this season for Minnesota? He's first on the Wild in goals, third in points (one behind the leaders), tops in plus/minus and second in shots. He's also third in ice time among forwards and is averaging almost two hits per game (second on the team). The only stat Eriksson Ek is lacking in is power-play points, but the Wild are awful in that category, with only four power-play goals total on the season. He's finally having the breakout season many have been hoping for since he was a first-round draft pick in 2015.

1. Nick Ritchie, 28 percent

Dobber (and reader Matt “Striker” Porter) has a theory that smaller-than-average and larger-than-average players will take about 400 games to break through. At 6'2, 230 pounds, Ritchie is only at 309 games played, so he's still a season and a bit away from his breakthrough. Of course, an opportunity can speed that process up. Ritchie is a staple on the second line and a fixture on Boston's top power-play unit. In 16 games, Ritchie has 13 points, nine of which have come with the man advantage. Those nine power-play points put him top-20 in the league. His average of 2.3 shots per game is a career high, up from the 1.6 shots per game he's averaged in each of the previous three seasons. He's also on pace for what would be 118 hits over an 82-game season. The only downside is he has 4 PIM, way below the 97 he had in 48 games last year. Despite the surprising lack of PIM, he's a must-own in most fantasy hockey leagues.

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